Page:Muhammad Diyab al-Itlidi - Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalîfahs - Alice Frere - 1873.djvu/165

136 groaning again began, and the man recited these lines, saying:

And at the beginning of his verses I rose in order to find the voice, and he had not ended them before I was with him. And I found him a youth with the down yet on his face, and with tears flowing in torrents over his cheeks. So I said to him, "Good morrow, young man." He replied, "And to thee—who art thou?" I answered, "ʾAbd-Allâh-ibn-Mʾaʾmr, el-Kîsy."

He asked, "Seekest thou aught?"

I replied, "I was sitting in the Ráwdat, and nothing troubled me this night excepting thy voice. Now my life is at thy service; what is it thou requirest?"